Winds of Change
by The Feline Overlord
Summary: Two restless dragons, Jetstream and Monsoon, are on a mission. Sent out into the Zephyr Steppes to claim new territory and build a new clan, they must endure vicious Beastclans, harsh conditions, and most of all each other.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Flight Rising and the world of Sornieth. All of the characters are my OCs.**

 **Dear Readers: I'm trying something new with this one. Also, a big thanks to triss2800 and two more of my friends without accounts on this website, who helped me a lot and were awesome beta readers (even if you went on and on about shipping the protagonists).**

 **Weird Update On The Author's Personal Life: I'm doing the Long Drop Coliseum Challenge, and my sanity is slowly declining. To Ember Mice everywhere: just drop the stupid Firestarters already!**

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 **Chapter One:**

I snatched my brown satchel, double-checking to make sure the egg was still there. Casting one last glance back at the clan that had taken me in, I took flight, twisting through the air.

Trotting behind me, far enough back to look like she wasn't traveling with him, was Monsoon. Feather-like markings covered the wings and body of the indigo Mirror dragon, and she had large fins on her head.

The two of us were on a mission of sorts for our home clan. As the clan grew, the leaders, a pair of Mirrors, had decided to send a small group of dragons out into the world to claim new territory. We were both open to the idea, and also were bringing along a mysterious egg that I had found while scavenging. Jade, a gentle green Fae dragon, told me I could keep it. In her words, 'maybe it could find a new life far from here.' But the only thing Monsoon and I were opposed to? Journeying _together_.

The two of us had one thing in common. We were not born in the clan, but had been adopted into it at a young age. Monsoon had always been evasive about her past, but I remembered the day she first arrived. I was still a hatchling at the time, fresh from my escape. She had arrived in the night, on the brink of death, though refused tell anyone where she came from. As she healed, she helped the clan to hunt, while continuing to deny my existence.

I had spent my life running from rules and confinement, looking for adventures. Away from overbearing parents and 'No, Jetstream, you were meant to stay here'. My dream had been to see the vast world, beyond the moor I had known, since I was little more than a hatchling. I had a purpose, and I knew it was more than my birth clan. I had slipped away, learning to rely on my own wits, and to trust no one but myself. But that wouldn't do me any good now.

"You could at least pretend to be friendly," I called over my shoulder to Monsoon.

She rolled her eyes- all four of them. "I never agreed to any of this," she grumbled.

"Well, you know what? I didn't want to be stuck in a patrol with you for the next six moons either. But at least I'm _trying_."

Her silence led me to believe that I had won. We continued like this, me gliding above and her walking behind, as we traversed the seemingly never-ending plains and bamboo fields.

"Oh, look, a rock!" Out of nowhere, Monsoon suddenly pointed out a rock formation in the distance, seemingly very excited.

I snickered. "What's so good about a rock?"

"That's the first rock we've seen today, in case you haven't noticed. We can rest there. It's getting dark."

Biting back a remark of my own, I realized that she was right. On the plateau, a rock formation as large as this was fairly rare, and the sun hung low over the horizon. "We can stop there," I decided.

I had an idea. "Race you there!" I shouted, shooting out ahead. Monsoon didn't miss a beat. She broke out into a sprint, tearing ahead of me in mere seconds.

I sped up until we were neck and neck, clutching the bag with the egg. In the final stretch, I put on a last burst of speed, concentrating only on my destination. Suddenly Monsoon was beside me in the air, flapping her purple wings furiously. She was a completely different dragon in the air; cutting through the sky like an arrow. I think I even caught her smiling. She landed a wingbeat before I did, hitting the ground running as she slammed her talon onto the rock triumphantly.

She didn't acknowledge me further, and instead Monsoon took some food from our stores and flew to the top of the formation. She began to tear into some kind of bird carcass, her back to me.

After I caught my breath, I first set down my bag and checked on the egg. It was still there, light green with dark swirls, and unmoving as always. Thankfully, the temperatures in the Zephyr Steppes were fairly mild, and we would be able to sleep outdoors.

"You're fast," I commented finally.

Monsoon looked up from the carcass and shrugged. "I've always wanted to be a messenger."

"Cool."

"How about you?" she asks.

"Me?"

"Yeah, do you have any dreams? Hopes, career choices, a bucket list?"

It took me only a moment to think. "I want to explore and see the world. I ran away from my old clan," I blurted.

She seemed genuinely interested by this, turning around to peer at me from atop her perch. "Really? Why?"

I gave her the short answer. "Too many dragons telling me what to do. That's how I ended up at our clan."

"That's actually pretty cool."

"I've always wanted to go somewhere where dragons would be free to do whatever we wanted to, where no old geezers would be yelling at us."

It seemed like a stupid idea to me, but Monsoon nodded. "We could do that, if you want," she said quietly. "We already are a clan of our own, and we could just explore. We could be nomads."

I stop to think. The two of us- three once the egg hatched, travelling and adventuring, living off the land. "You know, I think I would like that."

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 **This is a bit of a new style and genre of writing for me, so I'd love feedback. I have also posted it on the Flight Rising forums. My username is Timberfox42, and you can also see the real Jetstream and Monsoon there at the back of my lair.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Flight Rising, and besides the deities mentioned all characters are my OCs.**

 **Dear Readers: Here's another chapter, if you were one of the seven people who read the first one. And as usual, thanks to my proofreaders, who wrote #JetSoon4Lyfe all over their copies of the story.**

 **Weird Update On The Author's Personal Life: I** ** _finally_** **got my 99 Firestarters, and now I'm in the Volcanic Vents hunting down Siltvines. It's slower going, but at least I get XP.**

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 **Chapter Two:**

The green bird darted out in front of me, still chirping in the most irritating way. I swiped at it, but it hopped away and continued to whistle. I roared at it, baring my teeth, but the little sparrow didn't flinch. It was a startlingly bright shade of green, and small enough for me to snatch- or eat easily.

Flapping my wings and faking a charge, I rushed at it. The sparrow seemed to know I wasn't going to actually hit it, and I tripped trying to pull back at the last moment. It fluttered up and landed on my head. I groaned and swatted at it.

"You got something. Right there." Jetstream walked up to me, pointing at the bird.

"I know," I snapped. "Stupid sparrow's been bugging me all day."

"Aw, he's cute. I think we should call him … Harvey."

"We're not keeping him- is it a him, even?"

"Come to Daddy Jet, Harvey." Jetstream extended his claw to the sparrow.

"Daddy Jet? But wouldn't that be implying we…" I didn't want to finish the sentence.

Thankfully, we were interrupted as Harvey chirped in alarm. He took one look at Jetstream's outstretched claw and flew away.

"Hey, you scared Harvey away!", Jetstream complained.

" _I_ did? He was scared of _you_!"

It had been around a quarter moon since we had reached the camp, and now it was looking a bit more like an actual lair. We had gathered more rocks and now there was a small hollow where we could both store our food and sleep on colder nights. I prefered not to, though. Jet snored like the Earthshaker, which considering not only said deity's name, but the fact that he was a powerful dragon god, was no easy feat.

I was starting to think that I could live like this. We had enough food, we had shelter, and we had each other, if I dared say it. Then, there was always the egg. It had still not hatched and just laid there in a small hollow we had made, as infuriatingly boring as ever.

"I'm going out to hunt." I strode out of the camp, using my heat vision to scan for prey. As a rabbit peeked out of its burrow, I chased after it. I was about to deliver the killing blow when something green fluttered in front of my face. "Harvey! Really?"

Harvey chirped defiantly and landed by my foreclaws.

"Just, go bother Jetstream for a while. I won't be able to hunt with you around." I tried to shoo him away. He warbled sadly and hopped away from me.

Hunting was pretty successful, no thanks to Harvey. I had wrapped the day's catch- several more rabbits and some of the weird squiggly bugs Jet liked- in a piece of cloth and was ready to turn back when a structure made from bamboo caught my eye. It looked too small and intricate to be made by a dragon, and a crude banner flapped in the wind above it.

Suddenly, I heard a loud screech. All around me, a storm of feathers swirled. Before I could say "Windsinger help me," a my wings were bound by a weighted rope and a strange creature was staring me down. It had brown feathers, a hooked beak, and sharp features that reminded me of a hawk's. Not to mention it looked ready to thrust its spear at me. The creature stood on its hind feet, but barely reached the top of my leg. It had a large pair of folded wings and was dressed in ragged blue clothes. Several other creatures were standing behind it, all waving their weapons threateningly.

That was when I realized. I was facing a Raptorik, a member of the Beastclans. These savage warriors were enemies of dragonkind, and I had stumbled upon one of their camps. The bird in front of me, the largest one, squawked a command to the others, and they grabbed me and began to roughly drag me away. I thrashed, knocking several Raptorik away with my tail.

A gray warrior latched onto my neck, digging its talons in. "You are not welcome here, dragon," she hissed. Her voice was raspy, and she spoke slowly, as though the language was unfamiliar to her. "It would be wise to stop struggling." She held a knife to my throat.

Just then, I heard the familiar sound of obnoxiously loud birdsong. Harvey flew up to the Raptorik and pecked at its eyes. She dropped the knife to swat at him.

"Monsoon!" Jetstream yelled, and suddenly he was beside me. "Harvey was going crazy! I came as fast as I could! What happened?" His eyes widened as he took in the flock of angry bird-warriors.

"Besides angering a bunch of crazy overgrown eagles, not much," I replied, slashing at another Raptorik with my claw.

We found ourselves standing back to back. They had numbers, but we had the size advantage. They were no larger than deer. Except louder. And more … stabby. Flying away was out of the question; my wings were still bound.

A particularly angry Raptorik rushed forward and drove his spear into my flank. I swatted him away, sending reddish-brown feathers flying, but the spear had done its work. I hissed in pain as Jet swiped at several more warriors. "Are you okay?"

I grit my teeth. "I'll be fine." But we both knew. We couldn't hold them off forever.

Another squawk from the gray warrior who had spoken earlier, and the entire flock took flight. All at once, they rushed us from above. I could no longer feel each cut, as the beaks and talons had engulfed us completely. _This was it_ , I thought. _We're done for._

Then, it stopped. A huge pure white Raptorik landed near the group and the warriors immediately stepped back. "You were lucky this time," he said. "We have no need for you." I realized that I had been clinging to Jet and pushed him away.

The gray warrior from earlier stepped up next to him and whispered a single word. "Run." And we did. The ropes around my wings were digging into my scales, but there was no time to cut them. Jetstream grabbed Harvey in his claws and we ran like the Plaguebringer herself was chasing after us.

"That, was way too close," Jetstream told me once we were a safe distance away.

I twisted to gnaw my bonds off. It wasn't pretty, but it worked. I shook my head. "They took our food too."

"But at least we're alive. All of us," he added as Harvey wriggled free from his grasp and perched on my head. "And that's what matters."

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 **Another chapter done, and we met a new character, Harvey. He's a Zephyr Sparrow, if anyone's wondering. Be sure to tell me what you think.**

 **Feline out! *throws a smoke bomb and runs away***


	3. Chapter 3

**Dear Readers: Hello everyone! I finally got the next chapter out... exactly one day after the deadline I set for myself. Oh well.**

 **Weird Update On The Author's Personal Life: I killed off my first Dungeons and Dragons character yesterday. Brillup the frogfolk alchemist will be sorely missed. Now he's a spirit who gets to boss everyone else around.**

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The second incident with the Raptorik was equally chaotic, but by around the fourth attack we were much more vigilant, never straying too far from our camp. We had both agreed that the road to starting a clan of our own would never be easy, but I admit that I wasn't expecting to have to fight bitterly every step of the way. Since there were only two of us (and one oddly persistent zephyr sparrow), we were having trouble defending our little territory.

We had been on and off about staying since the first attack, but I finally decided around number ten. It seemed like a particularly hostile area we were in, and with a fragile egg it made sense not to take risks. While more dragonpower would be welcome, we had the mobility that larger clans lacked. "We need to move," I declared one afternoon as we walked back from hunting to find our camp had once again been raided. Materials and food were still strewn across the hollow from a raid yesterday. A blue sash and a few scattered feathers proved that the raptorik were indeed the culprits. The Raptorik had grown more bold.

"Why? We're doing fine here." Monsoon swept some of the feathers to the side with her tail.

"Don't try and deny it, Monsoon. There are monsters and Beastclan warriors everywhere, and we can't leave to look for food without worrying about Raptorik eating Harvey or something." The little zephyr sparrow chirped indignantly from his perch on Monsoon's head.

"You've told me that you wanted to stop running. Why are you so quick to give up? The beginning was bound to be hard," Monsoon argued. "We aren't leaving here," she declared stubbornly. "The dragons triumphed over the Beastclans a long time ago, and we're not going to let them win again."

"It won't be a win if we get our eyes pecked out by murderous talonok trying," I responded.

She shook her head. "Jetstream. Just … do yourself a favor and grow a spine for once. You can't just keep _running_ your entire Windsinger-forsaken _life_!" Monsoon snapped, her indigo fins flared aggressively.

The insult hit closer to my pathetic excuse for a home than I would've liked, but I didn't dare let it show. "You know, I had good reason to run. I didn't have a perfect life in my old clan, not like you. You just showed up right in front of the clan leaders' noses and they let you join."

"At least I didn't arrive as a half-starved hatchling and beg to stay," she responded coolly.

 _The memory hit me hard. Once more, I was two weeks old. I wasn't a hatchling, but a rebellious adolescent. My parents, who also happened to be the clan leaders, were both yammering at me about discipline. Since I was young, they had pushed me and made me work for the clan. I had to memorize a strict code of their rules. They were control freaks, of the clan and especially me. I was too small and weak to fight them, so I rebelled in my own way, the only way I knew how. I ran, through the cold and wind, hiding from the hostile beasts. Those three days I spent in the wilderness were the scariest three days of my life._

"I stand by my beliefs," I stated simply. "It's more than you could ever say."

Monsoon raised an eye ridge.

 _The cold, exhaustion, and the ruthless pit of hunger were bad, but the worst part was the_ fear. _At first it was a liability, but then I realized one night. Fear was a tool. Fear kept me alive, kept me running, moving, searching for a purpose. Fear was reality, and that was something I had come to accept._

"I know my place," I said softly.

"Which is being the dragon that runs from everything like a _coward_ ," she shot back.

Harvey had retreated into our den and was hiding underneath a scrap of fabric.

 _My clearest memory was of my last night in the wild. I had finally decided to rest, but I kept seeing the eyes of the monsters that stalked me, hearing their voices taunt me. I was terrified. That night was spent in agonizing, paralyzing, fear. I was too scared to move from my hiding place, afraid that monsters would find me. At the same time, I couldn't sleep. I was kept awake by my will alone. If I succumbed to sleep, I would never wake up again._

 _When morning finally came and I could think clearly again, I saw a clan's lair in the distance. Underneath an overhanging and surrounded by walls of bamboo, it looked like salvation. For what I hoped would be the last time, I ran._

Monsoon glared. Her tail was wrapped neatly around her forelegs and her wings unfurled slightly.

 _She didn't know anything._ I was barely holding myself together, but I knew not to show weakness. What I was doing was right. There was no reason for me to doubt myself.

We were both quiet. Neither of us wanted to give up. I thought, no, I _knew_ that running was the only way to survive. But somewhere in the back of my mind was a nagging feeling. _So did she._

"Maybe you'll see reason by tomorrow." Monsoon sounded tired.

Back in the cave, we had silently decided on a temporary truce. The peace was welcome, and the tension dissolved along with the light. I curled up, and somewhere in his nest of scraps Harvey chirped.

 _As I got closer to the clan, dragons started to stir. The sun was rising and for once there were no monsters in sight. I had reached their territory. Most of the dragons were mirrors and fae, along with several other types that I didn't recognize. An orange and black mirror dragon called out to me._

I wanted to survive, to exist peacefully. She wanted to fight, to make it through. Different backgrounds, different motives, but the same goal. We'd make it through together. It would always look better in the morning.

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 **This chapter was mostly to develop Jet's backstory. Also, arguments are hard to write. I may have been too repetitive.**

 **As usual, please review, follow, and favorite!**


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